The Loire: A Cultural History

Gustave Flaubert called the Loire "the most French of French rivers." It is the longest river in France and the most varied in scenery and moods. Beginning as a mountain stream in the ArdFche, it issues, 630 miles later, into the Atlantic beyond the great modern post of St-Nazaire. Small and rapid at first, the Loire runs through dark volcanic hills; further downstream it becomes the broader, slower river of sandy islands, poplars and chGteaux and of the vibrant cities of OrlTans, Blois. Tours, and Nantes (the former capital of Britanny). It is lined with vineyards, forest, medieval fortresses, and flamboyant Renaissance palaces. And it is fed by countless tributaries, from rivulets to mighty rivers like the Allier, Cher, and Vienne. each with their own remarkable sights.

Martin Garrett follows the Loire's course through cities and countryside. tracing its dramatic history from the days of feuding warlords and barons to the battles of 1940. Looking at the wide range of literature, art, and architecture created along its banks, he considers work that ranges from Du Bellay and Balzac to Virginia Woolf from Renaissance palace builders to Le Corbusier.

Martin Ga Rretlf is the author of books on Venice, Cambridge. and Provence